Worldwide Senior Tennis Circuit (WSTC) Exec Producer
Henry Brehm "remains confident" that "despite the loss" of
Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield as the primary sponsor, the
WSTC event in Richmond will return for a fifth year. Brehm:
"We're in conversations with several companies [about the
primary sponsorship]. All the companies we're talking to
are either based in Richmond or have a substantial interest
in the Richmond business marketplace." VA-based Luck Stone
Corp., the company which supplies the Har-Tru clay surface
for the WSTC, "already has committed to be a major sponsor"
for next year (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 5/14).....Canadiens
Dir of Sponsorship Francois-Xavier Seigneur, on Daimler
Chrysler recently dropping its sponsorships of his team, the
Oilers and Flames: "If it was just us, then I'd be worried.
It was a corporate decision to drop their association with
NHL teams in Canada" (Montreal GAZETTE, 5/13).
GOLF: CNN's Jim Huber reported that Nationwide
Insurance "definitely is withdrawing its sponsorship" from
the Senior PGA Tour's Nationwide Championship at the Golf
Club of Georgia. The event is moving "to a September date,
and there is word now that the Tour may be shifting to
Atlanta Country Club from now on" ("Inside the PGA Tour,"
5/13)....SoBe VP/Marketing Billy Bishop, on company endorser
John Daly: "He's definitely irreverent, not your typical
golfer and we'd like to get him drinking more SoBe. He's
going to touch a whole other consumer base for us" (AD AGE,
5/15 issue).....In Nashville, David Climer wrote that the
LPGA Tour is still a "bull market" for dot.coms, as the
"same company that could not afford to stencil its Web
address on the shirt of" Tiger Woods or David Duval "can get
prime real estate on the sleeve" of an LPGA player. Among
the LPGA players who endorse dot-coms are Jan Stephenson for
LiquidGolf.com, Juli Inkster for greens.com and Hollis Stacy
for 100percentsports.com (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 5/14).
